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Self-confessed conman Kristofer Ridgway, who scammed clients and pocketed more than $1.5 million in secret commissions, has been released on bail by a Queensland magistrate and will return to court in February.
The corporate watchdog in April permanently banned the former stockbroker from having any involvement in financial services and on Monday revealed it had charged him with two counts of providing false or misleading information during its investigation.
Kristofer Ridgway was bailed by a Queensland magistrate last week.Credit: Louise Kennerley
Ridgway appeared at the Southport Magistrates Court on Thursday. He was released on bail and the matter was adjourned for mention on February 5.
“It is alleged that Mr Ridgway provided false or misleading information to [Australian Securities and Investments Commission] while he was being examined during a compulsory examination conducted by ASIC as part of its investigation into Mr Ridgway’s role in recommending unlisted McFaddens Securities shares to clients,” the corporate regulator said in a statement.
“The matter is being prosecuted by the Commonwealth Director of Public Prosecutions following a referral by ASIC.”
Ridgway was sacked by his employer Shaw and Partners in February 2022 after he was caught using his position as a senior financial adviser to act as a middleman in a global investment scheme to lure unsophisticated investors into products that left them financially devastated.
He persuaded them to buy shares in unlisted companies with the expectations that they would soon be listed and deliver a windfall.
He was paid secret commissions of more than 17 per cent to sell the products sourced by McFaddens Securities, which he confessed to The Age and The Sydney Morning Herald was “100 per cent a scam”.
Clients were misled into believing the global investment schemes were endorsed and backed by Shaw and Partners, which made them easier to sell.
“I don’t want to think of myself as a crook but some of my actions in recent times have been terribly unlawful. I’m ashamed and sorry,” Ridgway admitted earlier this year.
“I have no self-respect or no self-worth. I struggle to look at myself in the mirror.”
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